


Tell the stars we’ve won

by withflouronmyhands



Series: Cressi Week 2k18 [8]
Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M, Unconventional Families, cressiweek2k18, post-retirement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 14:30:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16221035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withflouronmyhands/pseuds/withflouronmyhands
Summary: Cristianinho shares his plans for the future, making Cristiano remember things from his past.





	Tell the stars we’ve won

**Author's Note:**

> Written for day 7 of Cressi Week 2k18.

The days between Christmas and New Year were some of Cristiano’s favorite. He still had his closest family with him, but the excitement of the holiday had dwindled down by then, and the crowd that came to spend the holiday with them would already be on their flights back—not that he didn’t love his family, but having so many people in one place tended for it to become noisier than Cristiano was used to nowadays—, allowing for some quiet, slow-paced time with the kids.

The timer goes off in the oven, signaling that the food should be cooked and ready to be served.

“Is the flesh tender?” Antonella asks from the balcony, where she’s finishing the salad.

Cristiano puts the scalding tray on the counter and gently tugs the meat with a fork, watching it separate without any resistance. “It’s ready,” he confirms, and puts down the fork. “I’ll go tell the kids to go wash their hands.”

As he makes his way down the hallway, to the living room, he can hear the last chords of the guitar die down, followed by the sound of claps. He smiles when he hear Gio say, “That was great!”

The picture when he enters the living room is pretty much what he expect: Gio is laying on perpendicular part of their L-shaped couch with a bunch of pillows tucked behind her, the Mateos are sitting by her feet, unaware of the world around them while they watch something on the tablet, and Ciro is on the other corner of the couch, reading. Between Ciro and Gio, on the central part of the couch, Alana and Leo still have their guitars in position as they smile to each other.

When Alana had come home a few months ago saying that she had seen an advertisement for parent-child guitar lessons, Gio had offered to go with her on the spot. When the class schedule didn’t match Gio’s, Alana had asked him if he wanted to come with her, and Cristiano hadn’t even considered saying no. It turned out, though, that he was awful at it, and after three lessons with Alana, who was quite good—or so the teacher said, and Cristiano refused to believe anything else—Leo had decided to put them out of their misery and asked Alana if she minded if he started going with her, something that she immediately agreed to with a big smile on her face.

It warms Cristiano’s heart to see Leo get on so well with his kids. It wasn’t that he was ever on bad terms with them, but there was something so special on seeing him go to such lengths to see them happy.

“Dinner’s ready,” he announces. “Everyone go wash their hands.”

Leo smiles up at him and nods. He gets up and takes both his and Alana’s guitar so they can be put away safely, giving Cristiano a peck on the way.

“Mateo!” Gio calls for the two boys as she got up, trying to gather their attention. On the other side of the couch, Ciro says, “Let me just finish this page!” without making any motion to get up.

“Are the others still outside?” Cristiano asks.

“Yes. Do you want me to go call them in?” Gio asks, while she tries to smooth the wrinkle off her shirt.

“I’ll go,” Cristiano replies.

As he makes his way to the garden, Cristiano’s ready to scream at the kids to put on some jackets before going out in the cold, but when he walks outside he sees them dressed in their rain jackets and gloves, and the lecture dies in his mouth before it can even come out.

It’s windy and cold outside, and the noise from the angry sea is loud and pronounced. The garden is only lit up by the big lamps that had been put up outside, but he can clearly see Thiago, Cris and Eva in the grass with a couple of foot balls laying around. Thiago and Eva are showing Cris some dance that they probably learnt at school, holding hands as they move around one another, laughing to and at each other.

“Papa!” Eva calls when she sees him, gathering the attention of the boys.

“Dinner’s ready!” Cristiano announces, raising his voice enough to be heard over the wind. “Come inside.”

Eva starts coming with immediately, pulling Thiago with her since they were still holding hands, and Cris trails right behind them. Cristiano waits for them so he can help them out of their jackets, and then directs them to the restroom, giving Thiago a kiss on the head when he passes him.

Dinner was the same as usual. The kids were still high with all the Christmas gifts, talking excitedly about them, what they did, and how happy they were to have received them. It always warmed Cristiano’s heart to be able to make his kids so satisfied, so happy, so he just let them talk.

For desert they still had the rest of all the Christmas sweets, so Cristiano indulged in a bit of _aletria_. Even though he no longer played, he still tended to hold back when it came to edible indulgences, very unlike Leo, who took great pleasure in no longer having to mind his calorie intake.

“So, guys,” Cris calls out, a bit after Ciro has finished telling them about the book he’s been reading. “I kind of have an announcement…” he pauses, seeming to consider his words. “Not announcement, more like something I would like to share with all of you.” He seems nervous for some reason. Cristiano looks up at Gio, and then at Leo to see the intrigued expressions on their faces. “I know it might be a bit too early in the season to start talking about transfers, but I’ve been informed that there’s a club that has its eyes on me, and…” He trails off, not knowing how to continue.

“Do you know which club it is?” Antonella asks when no one speaks.

“I do,” Cris confirms. “And it’s a really good one as well. I’m really considering accepting it, when the time comes.”

Cristiano exchanges a look with Leo, sat to his left. When Cris had been taken on by Manchester United, the football world had been filled with people screaming about how Cris was following his father’s steps, about how they had another Ronaldo to fawn over. Cristiano had rolled his eyes at the headlines, partly because he wanted Cris to make his own path without feeling pressured by his, partly because it wasn’t like Cristiano had dropped off the face of Earth when he announced his retirement and stopped showing up in the headlines. Actually, it had been the opposite.

The first year after retiring, Cristiano had taken it lightly. He had taken the year to focus on his body and on bettering all the things he had neglected during his career, on trying to make all the pain and not-properly recovered injuries go away. He still went out for awards ceremonies, and sponsor campaigns, and his online activity hadn’t lacked in a bit, but it was a pretty quiet year. Looking back, one could call it the quiet before the storm.

The year had also allowed for him to follow Leo’s season more closely than ever, making it to almost every game (even if he only watched from the couch in Leo’s living room), and being able to comfort him on his losses and celebrate his victories with him. It had given them a taste of what their relationship could actually be, and made them long for more. Over the years, Cristiano had come to treasures this year, and the fact that he was able of being present without anything holding him back anymore.

When Leo started to talk about retiring, Cristiano had been afraid that Leo was only doing that so Cristiano wouldn’t be left out. However, when he listened to Leo tell him about all the plans Barcelona had of taking him on as a coach for one of the younger teams as they laid in bed at night, his eyes shining with plans and new opportunities, Cristiano knew that Leo was doing what was right for him.

So, the next year, Leo retired. Cristiano had watched in the stands as he played his last game with the Barcelona jersey, his four kids by his side, Cris even weeping a bit when he saw Leo start crying. That night, when they cuddled together still sticky and warm, Leo had turned to him and whispered, “We’re finally free.”

And so, they came clean. They had spent years talking about if they were going to do it, how they were going to do it, and though Cristiano wanted to start by letting the paparazzi caught them in the act so he could see what kind of turmoil it caused, Leo had insisted in not letting the media take over this too. That didn’t mean they hadn’t had their fun, though.

The first photo published of them was on Leo’s account. It was a snap taken by Antonella of them, Cristiano with his back turned to the camera, while Leo was turned towards it, both of them sitting on the floor. Between them, little Ciro was playing with a ball, throwing it at Leo with the clumsiness that all kids had. The shadows in Cristiano’s back made it so that his shape wasn’t clearly visible, only making out his broad shoulder. At the time, no one had given it much thought, everyone thinking he was just some of Leo’s friends that didn’t usually come up.

The second one, though, had kind of broke the internet. Cristiano still laughed about the whole episode. They hadn’t gone for anything too explicit that gave away too much about their relationship, but it was still more than anyone had ever seen. It had also been posted on Leo’s account, and it pictured the two of them, with Gio and Antonella. Cristiano had Alana on his lap, Gio had Eva sitting beside her, Antonella had Ciro and Leo had Mateo, and there was some match playing on the screen. This time they did make the headlines, with everyone speculating about when they had become such friends.

The third photo they released was published by the both of them, and left little to imagination. It was Gio that snapped that shot without neither of them being aware of it. Leo was enveloping him from behind, his chin resting on Cristiano’s shoulder, with Cristiano half sprawled on the couch, leaning heavily into Leo’s body. She must have caught it in the middle of a joke, because they were both smiling, Cristiano gazing up a Leo, who had his eyes half-close with laughter. Leo had posted it in black and white, while Cristiano had gone for full color and written “Love spending the afternoons with this one” in the description.

It not only made the headlines in the football and gossip world, it made the headlines pretty much anywhere. It was Leo who took on the tool of announcing it publicly during a press conference a couple of weeks later, mentioning at the end that yes, they were in a relationship, and yes, Antonella was fully aware. By the end of it, he had looked completely drained, and Cristiano had hugged him immediately, followed by Antonella.

The first few months had been harder than anyone anticipated, and Cristiano was glad that they had waited until their careers were over for them to announce it. Not only had they been targeted mercilessly, so had the kids, Gio, and Antonella. They all knew what was coming for them once it reached the public eye, but Cristiano didn’t remember having ever been so harassed by media and public alike, so much that he almost regretted ever saying something.

“We all knew it was coming,” Antonella had said one night, as they all rested on the couch, the children fast asleep. “And you had to do it. You didn’t deserve to live in the shadows for the rest of your life.” Cristiano had thought she was only talking to Leo, but then she had smiled at him, and Cristiano knew they were all in it together.

It had always bothered Cristiano how much the media harassed his kids, and how it weighted them down. Looking at Cris, he could see the commotion in eyes, the doubt between wanting to take on the new challenge that was being present to him, and follow his father’s footsteps, doing what was expected of him.

“Where are you going to play, then?” Mateo asks.

“It’s one of your old clubs,” Cris says, looking at him.

Cristiano frowns. He didn’t think Cris has any interest in playing for Sporting right now, and he had already played for Juventus when he was young. Of course, it wasn’t the same as playing professionally, but he already knew the club, so it wouldn’t make him this nervous.

“Real Madrid wants to sign you?” Gio asks when he takes too long to react. She sounds supportive and excited, so Cristiano forces himself out of his surprise and smiles as well.

Cris laughs, and shakes his head. “I didn’t mean one of Papa’s old clubs. I meant one of Leo’s old clubs,” Cris says, and now Cristiano understands that Cris’s eyes aren’t on him, but slightly to his left, looking at Leo.

“Barça wants to sign you?” Leo asks, his voice sounding a bit raspy. Glancing at him, Cristiano can see the surprise, the emotion, in his eyes.

“Yes,” Cris says, sheepish. “They told me they were keeping it from you because they wanted to hear from me first. But I think I would really like it. I would be close to you, as well,” Cris adds, because he's just like Cristiano. For him, home is where his family is, and right now he has no one in England. “You’re not mad, right?” Cris asks, and now he’s definitely looking at Cristiano.

Cristiano suddenly has a throwback of a young Cris, no older than six, running around his Madrid house dressed in blaugrana colors, in a jersey with a large “MESSI” on the back. At the time, his relationship with Leo was still so new, so fragile, but when Leo happened to see those photos of Cris on his phone, he had laughed, amused and delighted.

Despise that, though, he had never contemplated the idea of Cris playing for Barcelona, had never envisioned him putting a blaugrana jersey with a “CRISTIANINHO” on the back. But, somehow, it makes sense. Leo had been one of Cris’s idols since he was little, since when he was still learning what football was. But more than that, Barcelona had always welcomed them with open arms.

“Of course not,” Cristiano answers. “I’m really happy for you. And you know I’ll always support you, no matter what.” He gets up and goes around the table so he can hug Cris, who welcomes him with open arms, some tension leaving his body with the sign of acceptance. “I’m really proud of you,” Cristiano whispers against Cris’s hair.

His gesture seems to bring on a round of hugs, with the kids talking excitedly about how happy they are, delighted to get their brother back. When Leo’s turn arrives, Cristiano can see the emotions in his face, how happy he is to have one of the kids playing for the club who had always supported him.

Dinner ends soon after. Cristiano helps put the things away, but Gio offers to load the dishwasher, leaving him free to roam around. He makes his away to Cris’s room without even noticing where he’s going until he finds himself inside. On the bureau, Cris has a photo of the both of them, taken during the premier of the Ronaldo movie, something that he had always taken with him through all their moving around. He looks so small, and the sight of it fills Cris with nostalgia. Next to it, there’s the photo taken when Cristiano signed with Juventus, when the twins were still babies, all of them dressed in the black and white kit. And then, there’s a photo that Cristiano remembers clearly, taken many years ago, after Barcelona won La Liga. Leo is still in full gear and he has his Mateo on his lap, Thiago and Cris standing next to him. Cristiano isn’t in the photo since he was the one taking it. He smiles fondly at the memories.

He goes over to the window so he can stare at the city landscape. Cristiano had never thought he would end up settling for Barcelona once he retired, but he’s glad he chose it. At the time, he had decided to settle there mostly for Leo, because he couldn’t take the look in his eyes every time he considered leaving home. They were so unlike in that aspect: while Cristiano, with all his moving around, had made his family his home, made it so that he would feel content and comfortable wherever he was as long as Cris, and then later the kids and Gio, were with him, Leo had let the city who welcomed him with open arms, who stood with him every step of his career, make his way into his heart until it was carved so deep that he would never leave without leaving a piece of himself behind as well.

It had always been the decision that made more sense. Gio had always said that she wanted to be with the kids, watch them grow up and become their own people, no matter where in the world it was. But Leo had Antonella and had his own kids, who had only ever known Barcelona, and it wouldn’t be fair to separate them or take them away from home—they both knew first-hand how painful that was.

Moving to Barcelona had allowed him and Leo to be together without breaking Leo’s family in the process, and it allowed the kids to come and go as they pleased. Nowadays, Leo could be the one to drop them off at school in the morning and Antonella to pick them up in the afternoon.

And Barcelona had welcomed them with open arms as well. It was hard for Cristiano not to fall for the city when he had been received with an unexpected amount of cheer, warming up to him almost as quickly as they had warmed up to Leo.

There’s a knock on the door. Cristiano looks up to see Leo walk in, smiling happily at him as he closes the door behind him. He sits down on Cris’s unmade bed, patting the space next to him for Cristiano to sit as well. They stay like, touching from shoulder to knee for a while, looking out at Barcelona.

“You’re really not mad, are you?” Leo wonders sometime later, and Cristiano feels a bit sad when he hears the hints of insecurity in his voice.

“I was surprised,” Cristiano says, leaning his head so it rests against Leo’s. “But no, I’m not angry. I’m really happy.” He looks at Leo, who’s looking at their hands, touching carelessly against each other. “How are you feeling about it?”

Leo looks up at him and laces their fingers. “I’m really happy.” Leo doesn’t say anything else but Cristiano’s not surprised. He’s never been a man of many words, and his eyes convey everything he doesn’t say: the pride, the happiness, the joy. It had taken him too long to learn how to read Leo properly, but he’s so glad that he has taken the time to.

“It won’t be easy,” Leo says, voice overwhelmed with emotion. They both know that everyone always expected Cris to follow Cristiano’s footsteps. Nobody ever considered him following Leo’s.

“It never is,” Cristiano agrees.

Leo seems to consider the words. He looks at their laced fingers and swipes his thumb across the back of Cristiano’s hands. “I know it was hard to end up here, but it was good, right?”

“I wouldn’t have taken it any other way,” he says, and he means it. Because no matter how hard it had been to find themselves where they are now, that’s what made it so special. How despite all the rivalry that was pushed at them, despite all the victories and all the losses, they still made it out together. In the end, they both won, and they won together.

Cristiano leans forward to kiss Leo. “I love you,” he murmurs against his lips before they meet, in a kiss that’s soft, slow, and filled with love and emotion.

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, that is it! Cressi Week has come to an end! I hope you enjoyed my work, because I had a really fun time participating and sharing my stories with you. Thank you to everyone who read, commented and left kudos. It really meant a lot.
> 
> In this fic I tried to incorporate word and trope. Of all the fics for this week, this one has my favorite title.
> 
> Once again, thank you!


End file.
